Mr. Harkin(for himself,Mr. Cochran,Mr. Begich, andMr.
Wyden) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to theCommittee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs

A BILL

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II
members of the Civil Air Patrol.

1.

Findings

Congress makes the following
findings:

(1)

The unpaid
volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol (hereafter in this Act referred to as
theCAP) during World War II provided extraordinary
humanitarian, combat, and national services during a critical time of need for
the Nation.

(2)

During the war,
CAP members used their own aircraft to perform a myriad of essential tasks for
the military and the Nation within the United States, including attacks on
enemy submarines off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United
States.

(3)

This
extraordinary national service set the stage for the post-war CAP to become a
valuable nonprofit, public service organization chartered by Congress and
designated the Auxiliary of the United States Air Force that provides essential
emergency, operational, and public services to communities, States, the Federal
Government, and the military.

(4)

The CAP was
established on December 1, 1941, initially as a part of the Office of Civil
Defense, by air-minded citizens one week before the surprise attack on Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, out of the desire of civil airmen of the country to be
mobilized with their equipment in the common defense of the Nation.

(5)

Within days of
the start of the war, the German Navy started a massive submarine offensive,
known as Operation Drumbeat, off the east coast of the United States against
oil tankers and other critical shipping that threatened the overall war
effort.

(6)

Neither the Navy
nor the Army had enough aircraft, ships, or other resources to adequately
patrol and protect the shipping along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of
the United States, and many ships were torpedoed and sunk, often within sight
of civilians on shore, including 52 tankers sunk between January and March
1942.

(7)

At that time
General George Marshall remarked that[t]he losses by submarines off our
Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean now threaten our entire war
effort.

(8)

From the
beginning CAP leaders urged the military to use its services to patrol coastal
waters but met with great resistance because of the nonmilitary status of CAP
civilian pilots.

(9)

Finally, in
response to the ever-increasing submarine attacks, the Tanker Committee of the
Petroleum Industry War Council urged the Navy Department and the War Department
to consider the use of the CAP to help patrol the sea lanes off the coasts of
the United States.

(10)

While the Navy
initially rejected this suggestion, the Army decided it had merit, and the
Civil Air Patrol Coastal Patrol began in March 1942.

(11)

Oil companies
and other organizations provided funds to help pay for some CAP operations,
including vitally needed shore radios that were used to monitor patrol
missions.

(12)

By late March
1942, the Navy also began to use the services of the CAP.

(13)

Starting with 3
bases located in Delaware, Florida, and New Jersey, CAP aircrews (ranging in
age from 18 to over 80) immediately started to spot enemy submarines as well as
lifeboats, bodies, and wreckage.

(14)

Within 15
minutes of starting his patrol on the first Coastal Patrol flight, a pilot had
sighted a torpedoed tanker and was coordinating rescue operations.

(15)

Eventually 21
bases, ranging from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Brownsville, Texas, were set up for
the CAP to patrol the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States,
with 40,000 volunteers eventually participating.

(16)

The CAP used a
wide range of civilian-owned aircraft, mainly light-weight, single-engine
aircraft manufactured by Cessna, Beech, Waco, Fairchild, Stinson, Piper,
Taylorcraft, and Sikorsky, among others, as well as some twin engine aircraft,
such as the Grumman Widgeon.

(17)

Most of these
aircraft were painted in their civilian prewar colors (red, yellow, or blue,
for example) and carried special markings (a blue circle with a white triangle)
to identify them as CAP aircraft.

(18)

Patrols were
conducted up to 100 miles off shore, generally with 2 aircraft flying together,
in aircraft often equipped with only a compass for navigation and a single
radio for communication.

(19)

Due to the
critical nature of the situation, CAP operations were conducted in bad weather
as well as good, often when the military was unable to fly, and in all seasons,
including the winter, when ditching an aircraft in cold water would likely mean
certain death to the aircrew.

(20)

Personal
emergency equipment was often lacking, particularly during early patrols where
inner tubes and kapok duck hunter vests were carried as flotation devices,
since ocean worthy wet suits, life vests, and life rafts were
unavailable.

(21)

The initial
purpose of the Coastal Patrol was to spot submarines, report their position to
the military, and force them to dive below the surface, which limited their
operating speed and maneuverability and reduced their ability to detect and
attack shipping, because attacks against shipping were conducted while the
submarines were surfaced.

(22)

It immediately
became apparent that there were opportunities for CAP pilots to attack
submarines, such as when a Florida CAP aircrew came across a surfaced submarine
that quickly stranded itself on a sand bar. However, the aircrew could not get
any assistance from armed military aircraft before the submarine freed
itself.

(23)

Finally, after
several instances when the military could not respond in a timely manner, a
decision was made by the military to arm CAP aircraft with 50- and 100-pound
bombs, and to arm some larger twin-engine aircraft with 325-pound depth
charges.

(24)

The arming of
CAP aircraft dramatically changed the mission for these civilian aircrews and
resulted in more than 57 attacks on enemy submarines.

(25)

While CAP
volunteers received $8 a day flight reimbursement for costs incurred, their
patrols were accomplished at a great economic cost to many CAP members
who—

(A)

used their own
aircraft and other equipment in defense of the Nation;

(B)

paid for much of
their own aircraft maintenance and hangar use; and

(C)

often lived in
the beginning in primitive conditions along the coast, including old barns and
chicken coops converted for sleeping.

(26)

More
importantly, the CAP Coastal Patrol service came at the high cost of 26
fatalities, 7 serious injuries, and 90 aircraft lost.

(27)

At the
conclusion of the 18-month Coastal Patrol, the heroic CAP aircrews would be
credited with—

(A)

2 submarines
possibly damaged or destroyed;

(B)

57 submarines
attacked;

(C)

82 bombs dropped
against submarines;

(D)

173 radio reports
of submarine positions (with a number of credited assists for kills made by
military units);

(E)

17 floating mines
reported;

(F)

36 dead bodies
reported;

(G)

91 vessels in
distress reported;

(H)

363 survivors in
distress reported;

(I)

836
irregularities noted;

(J)

1,036 special
investigations at sea or along the coast;

(K)

5,684 convoy
missions as aerial escorts for Navy ships;

(L)

86,685 total
missions flown;

(M)

244,600 total
flight hours logged; and

(N)

more than
24,000,000 total miles flown.

(28)

It is believed
that at least one high-level German Navy Officer credited CAP as one reason
that submarine attacks moved away from the United States when he concluded that[i]t was because of those damned little red and yellow
planes!.

(29)

The CAP was
dismissed from coastal missions with little thanks in August 1943 when the Navy
took over the mission completely and ordered CAP to stand down.

(30)

While the
Coastal Patrol was ongoing, CAP was also establishing itself as a vital wartime
service to the military, States, and communities nationwide by performing a
wide range of missions including, among others—

(A)

border
patrol;

(B)

forest and fire
patrols;

(C)

military courier
flights for mail, repair and replacement parts, and urgent military
deliveries;

(D)

emergency
transportation of military personnel;

(E)

target towing
(with live ammunition being fired at the targets and seven lives being lost)
and searchlight tracking training missions;

(F)

missing aircraft
and personnel searches;

(G)

air and ground
search and rescue for missing aircraft and personnel;

(H)

radar and
aircraft warning system training flights;

(I)

aerial
inspections of camouflaged military and civilian facilities;

(J)

aerial
inspections of city and town blackout conditions;

(K)

simulated bombing
attacks on cities and facilities to test air defenses and early warning;

(L)

aerial searches
for scrap metal materials;

(M)

river and lake
patrols, including aerial surveys for ice in the Great Lakes;

(N)

support of war
bond drives;

(O)

management and
guard duties at hundreds of airports;

(P)

support for State
and local emergencies such as natural and manmade disasters;

(Q)

predator
control;

(R)

rescue of
livestock during floods and blizzards;

(S)

recruiting for
the Army Air Force;

(T)

initial flight
screening and orientation flights for potential military recruits;

(U)

mercy missions,
including the airlift of plasma to central blood banks;

(V)

nationwide
emergency communications services; and

(W)

a cadet youth
program which provided aviation and military training for tens of
thousands.

(31)

The CAP flew
more than 500,000 hours on these additional missions, including—

a courier service
involving 3 major Air Force Commands over a 2-year period carrying more than
3,500,000 pounds of vital cargo and 543 passengers;

(C)

southern border
patrol flying more than 30,000 hours and reporting 7,000 unusual sightings
including a vehicle (that was apprehended) with 2 enemy agents attempting to
enter the country;

(D)

a week in
February 1945 during which CAP units rescued seven missing Army and Navy
pilots; and

(E)

a State in which
the CAP flew 790 hours on forest fire patrol missions and reported 576 fires to
authorities during a single year.

(32)

On April 29,
1943, the CAP was transferred to the Army Air Forces, thus beginning its long
association with the United States Air Force.

(33)

Hundreds of
CAP-trained women pilots joined military women's units including the Women's
Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) program.

(34)

Many members of
the WASP program joined or rejoined the CAP during the post-war period because
it provided women opportunities to fly and continue to serve the Nation that
were severely lacking elsewhere.

(35)

Due to the
exceptional emphasis on safety, unit and pilot training and discipline, and the
organization of the CAP, by the end of the war a total of only 64 CAP members
had died in service and only 150 aircraft had been lost (including its Coastal
Patrol losses from early in the war).

(36)

It is estimated
that up to 100,000 civilians (including youth in its cadet program)
participated in the CAP in a wide range of staff and operational positions, and
that CAP aircrews flew a total of approximately 750,000 hours during the war,
most of which were in their personal aircraft and often at risk to their
lives.

(37)

After the war,
at a CAP dinner for Congress, a quorum of both Houses attended with the Speaker
of the House of Representatives and the President thanking CAP for its
service.

(38)

While air medals
were issued for some of those participating in the Coastal Patrol, little other
recognition was forthcoming for the myriad of services CAP volunteers provided
during the war.

(39)

Despite some
misguided efforts to end the CAP at the end of the war, the organization had
proved its capabilities to the Nation and strengthened its ties with the Air
Force and Congress.

(40)

In 1946,
Congress chartered the CAP as a nonprofit, public service organization and in
1948 made the CAP an Auxiliary of the United States Air Force.

(41)

Today, the CAP
conducts many of the same missions it performed during World War II, including
a vital role in homeland security.

(42)

The CAP’s
wartime service was highly unusual and extraordinary, due to the unpaid
civilian status of its members, the use of privately owned aircraft and
personal funds by many of its members, the myriad of humanitarian and national
missions flown for the Nation, and the fact that for 18 months, during a time
of great need for the United States, the CAP flew combat-related missions in
support of military operations off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico
coasts.

2.

Congressional
Gold Medal

(a)

Award

(1)

Authorized

ThePresident pro tempore of the Senateand theSpeaker of the House of
Representativesshall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of
Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the World
War II members of the Civil Air Patrol collectively, in recognition of the
military service and exemplary record of the Civil Air Patrol during World War
II.

(2)

Design and
striking

For the purposes of the award referred to inparagraph
(1), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the gold medal with suitable
emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.

(3)

Smithsonian
institution

(A)

In
general

Following the award of the gold medal referred to inparagraph (1)in honor of all of its World War II members of the Civil Air
Patrol, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it
shall be displayed as appropriate and made available for research.

(B)

Sense of
congress

It is the sense ofCongressthat theSmithsonian
Institutionshould make the gold medal received under this paragraph available
for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations associated with the
Civil Air Patrol.

(b)

Duplicate
medals

Under such regulations as theSecretarymay prescribe, theSecretarymay strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck
under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals,
including labor, materials, dyes, use of machinery, and overhead
expenses.

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